Sea Change

by EARLE, SYLVIA A.

• ISBN13: 9780449910658
• ISBN10: 0449910652
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 1996-05-21
• Publisher: Ballantine Books

Summary

Internationally renowned as the ambassador-at-large to the world's oceans, Sylvia Earle is an extraordinary woman--the former chief scientist of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a distinguished marine biologist, a veteran of more than 6,000 hours underwater, the founder of an ocean engineering firm, and an eloquent advocate for marine conservation.Sea Changeis at once the gripping adventure story of Earle's three decades of undersea exploration, an insider's introduction to the dynamic field of marine biology, and an urgent plea for the preservation of the world's fragile and rapidly deteriorating ocean ecosystems. Earle takes us along on journeys to places of unimaginable beauty and unutterable destruction. She conjures up the exhilaration of swimming with humpback whales off the coast of Maui; she makes us comprehend the true environmental tragedy of the massive oil spills in Prince William Sound and the Persian Gulf; and she leads us out into Australia's Great Barrier Reef, the epitome of ocean wilderness but also the final resting place for tons of waste that drift in from thousands of miles away. This brilliant, thought-provoking, superbly readable book will inspire a new reverence for the majesty of the world's oceans even as it opens our eyes to the intricate interdependence of all life-forms.

Author Biography

Called "Her Deepness" by <b>The New Yorker</b> and <b>New York Times</b>, Sylvia Earle is a marine biologist, author, lecturer, and scientific consultant, chairman of Sea Change Trust and the Caribbean Marine Research Center, co-founder and director of Deep Ocean Engineering, Inc., president of Deep Ocean Exploration and Research, Inc., director of Dresser Industries, Inc., and formerly the Chief Scientist of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.  Currently, she is Research Associate in Botany at the Smithsonian Institution.  Her research concerns the ecology of marine ecosystems, with special reference to marine plants, and the development of technology for access and research in the deep sea.<br><br>Holder of several diving records, author of more than ninety scientific, technical, and popular publications, Dr. Earle has a B.S. from Florida State University, and M.A. and a Ph.D. from Duke University, and six honorary doctorates.  She lives in Oakland, California, and in oceans everywhere.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Introduction	xi
Part I Sea of Eden
Deep Time	5	(9)
Exploring the Sea	14	(21)
Onward and Downward	35	(28)
Blue Infinity	63	(21)
Diving with the Experts	84	(15)
To the Edge of Darkness	99	(11)
The Twilight Zone	110	(14)
Our Business Is Going Under	124	(19)
Ocean Everest	143	(24)
Part II Paradise Lost
No Free Lunch	167	(31)
Critter Crisis	198	(28)
Poisoning the Sea	226	(19)
Beyond Flotsam and Jetsam	245	(16)
Troubled Waters	261	(12)
A Terrible Experiment	273	(22)
Part III Sea Change
Ocean Care	295	(23)
Second Chance for Paradise	318	(11)
Appendix	329	(14)
Selected References	343	(12)
Index	355